


down in the valley

by bertee



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bartenders, Deities, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-15 17:51:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5794084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bertee/pseuds/bertee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Jensen is a tavern owner having a rough night and Jared is his hellgod boyfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	down in the valley

"Hey, barmaid!"

Halfway through his wipedown of the counters, Jensen didn't turn around at the name. However, he couldn't help but tense at the laughter that followed and was forced to acknowledge the second shout that came from the cluster of soldiers, "How about one more for the road?"

Jensen reminded himself that it wasn't good business for a barkeeper to murder his customers.

Managing a tight smile, he went to retrieve another load of dirty mugs. "Sorry, gentlemen, we're closed for the night. Come back tomorrow."

"Closed, huh?" One of the wooden chairs clattered to the floor as the biggest of the soldiers dragged himself to his feet. "Last I checked, this is still Lord Marshall's town. Am I wrong, _barmaid_?"

Rolling his eyes, Jensen leaned over to grab some more mugs but was stopped by the curl of the soldier's hand around his upper arm.

"Since this is Lord Marshall's town," the soldier continued, "and since we're Lord Marshall's men, that means we get to make the rules around here."

The soldier was taller than him but not by much, and Jensen held his gaze as he said firmly, "Not in my bar. I'll serve you all the ale you want when we're open tomorrow but for tonight, you're going to need to get off me and get out of my bar."

The soldier's eyes narrowed but Jensen breathed out in relief when he released his arm. Taking a moment to calm himself down -- he wasn't in a hurry to tangle with any more of the Lord's men again -- Jensen turned back to clear the table.

His fingers barely brushed a plate before he found himself slammed face down onto the wood. 

Pain flared across his cheekbone, spreading up to his temple and down his jaw as he gasped in agony against the dirty tabletop. Any attempts to move were curtailed by the hand around his wrist, twisting his arm painfully behind his back, and Jensen blinked past the flickers of white in his vision as he struggled against the hold. "Get the hell off me."

The soldiers chuckled and Jensen winced as the grip on his arm grew tighter. 

"You need to learn your place, barmaid," the tall soldier taunted. "Luckily for you, we can help you out with that."

Jensen's shoulder was almost wrenched out of place when he was hauled back upright but another soldier caught him with a punch to the stomach before he could fight back. They laughed again as he doubled up, curling over further when the punch was followed by a second and a third, and Jensen narrowly avoided smacking his head against the counter when they shoved him carelessly against the bar.

Backed up against the solid length of the bar, he couldn't do much more than spit out a mouthful of blood as they advanced, drunk and lit up with excitement at the prospect of beating him into submission.

The tall one stepped forward, fist raised, and Jensen held up his hand as he said desperately, "Wait!"

Sniggers rippled around the group but they seemed to pause, at least long enough for their leader to sneer, "You begging for mercy already? I thought the owner of the Red Priest was supposed to be tougher than that."

The wind picked up outside, whipping against the door, and blood trickled from Jensen's split lip when he asked, "Is that all you've heard about this place?"

One of the soldiers, a stocky guy with dirty blond hair, smirked and elbowed his friend. "What else are we supposed to have heard? You got really good pies or something?"

"Not exactly." The door clattered in the wind and Jensen's fear receded with each passing second. "Rumor has it that a warlock comes by here every so often."

The stocky soldier snorted. "A warlock? Feeding us bullshit like that isn't gonna save you from a well-earned beating, asshole."

Jensen shrugged. "Call it what you want. Plenty of people have seen him. Some of them even lived to tell about it."

A couple of the soldiers exchanged glances and Jensen pushed further. "According to the stories, he lives out by the mountains. He's ancient and powerful, enough to wipe out the whole town if he wanted to. Lord Marshall included."

"Then why hasn't he?" 

The question came out more sincerely than the soldier probably intended and Jensen looked between the group of them as lightning flashed outside the windows. "Because he was in love with one of the townspeople. They say she used to own this tavern centuries ago and ever since she died, the warlock has kept watch over this place, searching for her spirit."

Lightning illuminated the bar again and a couple of the soldiers shifted anxiously, hands on the hilts of their swords.

"Come on!" the tall one snapped. "Don't tell me you're falling for this horseshit. He's lying!"

"Yes, he is."

The group of them jumped at the voice from the doorway but Jensen couldn't hide his relieved smile as the newcomer came strolling into the bar. "He definitely gets points for effort though."

The tall soldier stepped forward, apparently aggrieved that someone had interrupted his chance to break even more of Jensen's ribs. "Who the fuck are you?"

Jared's eyes flashed gold in the darkness. "I guess I'm your warlock."

If Jensen's face hadn't been aching so badly from its encounter with the table, he would've laughed at the scared gasps that came from the soldiers. They rallied, drunk, stumbling, and fearful of the unknown, and Jensen backed up as they approached Jared, swords in hand.

"You're as crazy as your friend here," the tall soldier said. "And you're both gonna die the same way."

Jared's eyes landed on Jensen's for an instant and Jensen gave him a tiny shake of his head.

"Consider yourselves lucky," Jared said with a smile. "As it turns out, I'm only here for a quiet drink with a friend."

The tall soldier frowned. "What-"

Lightning filled the bar before he could finish. The air burned hot with it, crackling down from ceiling to floor, and Jensen threw his arm over his eyes as white sparks poured down over all of them.

When he lowered his arm, the lightning and the soldiers were gone.

The wind was dying outside, retreated back to a gentle breeze, and Jensen looked up as Jared walked over to help him up. "A warlock? Really?"

Taking the offered hand, Jensen pulled himself to his feet and immediately leaned against the bar with a hand to his stomach. His face throbbed from the blow and when he looked up into Jared's very human eyes, he winced at the hammer of the headache building in his skull.

"It was the best I could do," Jensen said. "What was I supposed to say? 'This bar's haunted by a stranger with mysterious powers and a great ass, who may or may not be some kind of mythical hell god'? It's not exactly snappy."

"Fair point." Jared's smile dimmed as he reached out to cup Jensen's bruised face. "You're hurt."

Jensen waved it away, doing his best not to lean into Jared's touch. "They were drunk and dumb. I'm okay."

Jared raised his eyebrows and Jensen relented, "Okay, so my head feels like a blacksmith's anvil." He grimaced as the headache pulsed through him. "Thank you for showing up when you did."

"My pleasure," Jared said, moving in closer to back him up against the bar. "Now hold still."

Power flowed from him before Jensen could argue. Any protests quickly died on his tongue as healing warmth poured from Jared's hands, sweeping away the drum of Jensen's headache and the lingering ache in his cheek, stomach and shoulder. When Jared lowered his hands, Jensen was unhurt but exhausted and he rested his head against Jared's shoulder as he collected himself.

Jared's fingers moved through his hair, petting him with idle fondness, and not for the first time, Jensen wondered how an apparently immortal being had been reduced to this. 

(He was almost proud of himself for his part in it except for how his part usually involved being in some kind of peril.)

"Better?"

"Much," Jensen said sleepily. It was an effort to lift his head but worth it to see the smile on Jared's lips. "What did you do to them? The lightning thing was new."

"Just a relocation," Jared promised. "Somewhere with plenty of manure."

Jensen laughed. "I can't say I'm all too sad about that." Jared's hands settled on his hips, still heated through with his power, and Jensen basked happily in the touch. "What are you doing here?"

"Aside from saving your ass?"

"Yep," he said. "Saving isn't normally high on your agenda when it comes to my ass."

"Can't argue with that," Jared said with a grin. "I'm just passing through. Thought I'd stop in and, what was it, search for the spirit of the long-dead love of my life?"

Jensen buried his face in his shoulder again. "Shut up."

"I'm serious," Jared teased. "You should be a playwright or something."

"It sounded better than you stopping by every few weeks to hook up with the current bartender," Jensen said. "They were already pissed because I wouldn't give them more ale -- I don't think giving them a rundown of my sex life was going to help my situation any."

"Point taken," Jared said, inching his hands down to Jensen's ass. "But 'searching for her spirit'? Hate to break it to you but this place isn't exactly big. It wouldn't take me centuries to find a spirit here."

"Quit nitpicking," Jensen muttered. "I'd like to see you come up with a better stalling tactic after someone tried to break a table in half using _your_ face."

Jared's eyes flashed amber again. "They did what?"

Jensen shook his head. "Forget it." Shifting his hips forward to let Jared cup his ass, he pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "Or are you going to pretend you just stopped by to catch up on my day?"

"We should find you a safer line of work," Jared murmured, drawing him in for a kiss. 

His lips were hot against Jensen's, a reminder of the power crackling under his skin, and Jensen yielded happily to the push of his tongue past his lips. In the back of his mind, there was still a question mark over what Jared actually was, over whether being in a quasi-relationship with him was a good idea, but as long as he kept kissing him like that, Jensen couldn't bring himself to care too much about the details.

He missed the contact as soon as Jared pulled away and he rested his arms on Jared's shoulders as he teased, "And what counts as a safer line of work? Because I definitely remember vetoing spending every day in your bed."

Jared smiled, lowering his head until their noses brushed. "Are you sure I can't get you to reconsider that? I hear my lair is very comfortable."

Jensen tipped his head up into the kiss. "I'm not a whore."

"Never said you were," Jared murmured. "What are your feelings on 'consort'?"

Jensen laughed against his lips. "Not gonna happen. I have a job here, not to mention a life. You want me, you're gonna have to come get me."

The answering flash of amber in Jared's eyes made something heat low in Jensen's belly. Jared's teeth scraped over his now-healed lip and his kisses grew rougher as he said, "That can be arranged."

His fingers dipped beneath the waistband of Jensen's pants and Jensen canted his hips forward to meet Jared's as he said, "The door-"

It clattered shut before he could finish the sentence, the heavy bolt shooting into place to keep everyone else out. 

"The windows-"

The shutters were propelled closed by Jared's power as he kissed his way down Jensen's neck. Fog rolled in over the windows which didn't have shutters, giving them as much seclusion as could be afforded in the middle of a tavern, and Jensen let himself relax into Jared's touch as he walked him back against the bar. 

His fingers caught the button of Jensen's pants and Jensen couldn't help the blush of embarrassment that spread over his face when Jared pushed his pants down to his ankles without a moment's hesitation. 

Jared just smiled at the blush, kissing him on the cheek, and ducking his head to whisper in his ear, "I forget how human you are sometimes. All that foolish modesty."

Jensen nipped at his lip by way of chastisement. "I don't see you half-naked yet."

It wasn't a real complaint but Jared went with it anyway as he shucked off his dark coat and pulled his shirt over his head without shame. Jensen's breath caught in his throat for a moment -- it had been a long time and Jared was so very nice to look at -- but before he could stare at the broad expanse of his chest for too long, Jared had slicked two fingers with spit and was sliding them inside him with cruel efficiency.

Jensen's protest was somewhere between a yelp and a moan but Jared just smiled as he kicked Jensen's legs apart to shove him up higher against the bar. Jensen rose up on his tiptoes, scrabbling for balance and digging his fingers into Jared's shoulders as Jared opened him up on his fingers, and he moaned into the kiss when a dull burn ignited inside him at the twist and push of Jared's long fingers. 

"We-"

"Could take it slow," Jared filled in, his tone just the right side of mocking.

Jensen glared. "I'm-"

"Already hard and don't want to embarrass yourself in front of your resident warlock."

His fingers rubbed against Jensen's prostate and in spite of himself, Jensen laughed as he let Jared lift him the last few inches until he was perched on the edge of the bar, supported by Jared's body against his chest and Jared's fingers working their way inside him. "Don't tell me you're still bitter about the warlock thing."

"Have you seen many warlocks lately?" He slid his fingers out of him and gripped Jensen's hips to pull him down to his angle of choice. "So many unfortunate beard choices."

His stubble scratched Jensen's cheek as he worked his pants open and Jensen smiled at the distracted smudge of a kiss Jared left on his cheek. "I'm glad you have some standards."

"I have high standards," Jared corrected. "You just happen to meet all of them."

Jensen blinked. "I do?"

"You do," Jared said, blunt and honest. "You have no idea how many creatures out there would kill to have you like this."

His dick was blunt and heavy against Jensen's hole as he tugged him down off the bar and onto the length of it, inch by thick inch. Too distracted to focus on the potential creatures that were apparently interested in him, Jensen wrapped his bare legs around Jared's hips with a helpless little moan as he let himself be taken. 

It was a stretch, made worse by the number of weeks that had passed since Jared had last visited, but the pain tipped quickly over to pleasure when Jared sank the whole way inside him. 

Jared's body was bare and hot against him and Jensen leaned back against the bar with an impatient noise as Jared worked his shirt up over his head. It tangled around his arms but Jared ripped it the rest of the way off before slamming in deep again. 

"I- Creatures?" Jensen asked between breaths. The steady thrusts of Jared's dick inside him continued and he closed his eyes, rolling his hips into the motion as he tried to remember what they'd been talking about. "What creatures?"

"Werewolves, vampires, succubi," Jared said, hoisting Jensen a little higher in his arms to spread his weight more evenly between Jared's body and the counter behind them. "You know, the usual."

He leaned in for a kiss which Jensen was too distracted to return. "The- There are werewolves?"

Jared smiled as he kissed along Jensen's jaw. "What, you think I'm the only thing out there in the dark?"

It was hard to deal with supernatural revelations when his mysterious sometimes-boyfriend was dick deep inside him and Jensen rode the rhythm of Jared's thrusts as he tried to piece together the news. "I just- Werewolves? Really?"

There was a stupidly amused smirk on Jared's lips and Jensen went with his first instinct to kiss it away. Jared's tongue slid against his, his hands big and warm on Jensen's ass and his dick moving inside him, and Jensen wrapped a hand around his own cock as Jared licked over his lower lip.

"Werewolves. And vampires, succubi, ghouls, and a whole host of other things. Don't worry," Jared said, disturbingly unfazed, "none of them are gonna touch you."

"Because I'm spoken for?"

Jared's eyes glowed gold. "Because you're well defended."

The next firm thrust saved Jensen from having to come up with a response. (Dickish soldiers, he could deal with. Potentially aggressive ghouls, not so much.) 

His whole body shook with the force of Jared's push inside, sparking up his spine and trickling down to his toes as Jensen tipped his head back to ride the edge of pain that came with it. He clenched uselessly around him, tightening the grip of his legs around Jared's hips as he tried to anchor himself on whatever he could find. 

Jared's arms were solid around him, sheened with sweat but steady, despite his weight, and Jensen leaned into him as his thrusts picked up strength and speed. "I think we need to talk about timing," he gasped between movements. "As in, the appropriate timing for you to tell me about things like vampires." He groaned, working his dick faster as Jared squeezed his ass. "Just for reference, this is not appropriate timing."

Jared scraped his teeth and tongue over the bruise of a kiss on Jensen's neck, slow enough to make Jensen shiver, and looked up with a glint of gold in his eyes. "Being appropriate isn't really one of my concerns." 

He moved in, lips not quite touching Jensen's as he teased, "And from what I've seen, it isn't exactly one of yours either." He pushed in deep and chuckled when the rub against his prostate made Jensen arch back against the bar. "Am I wrong?"

The heat in Jensen's belly grew to a roar of fire as he inched closer to completion with every stroke to his dick and every push inside his ass. As much as he wanted to complain about the sudden introduction of other creatures to his worldview, it was hard to keep focus when he had Jared in front of him (and inside him and around him), wearing inhuman eyes and a knowing smirk.

"You're an asshole," Jensen muttered, riding his dick with as much energy as he could muster, "but no. Not wrong."

"I feel so validated."

Jensen hit him on the arm. "Shut up."

Jared gave an obedient nod and fucked in so fast and so deep that Jensen almost came on the spot. His hand stuttered on his dick and the heat rolled through him as he fought to breathe past the steady pounding of Jared's cock inside him. Sweat trickled down his back, his chest, down from the crook of his knees around Jared's hips, and he let the bar take his weight as he rocked his hips into Jared's strokes with a desperate moan of encouragement. "I'm close…"

"You know me," Jared said, licking at the corner of Jensen's mouth. "I'd hate to keep you waiting."

Jensen slipped over the edge before he could point out that most of his time was spent doing exactly that. His release raced through him, burning away the weeks of waiting as he spilled over his hand, and he rolled his hips in an unthinking rhythm when Jared followed him a moment later to fill his ass with still more heat.

Slumping back against the counter, he blinked flickers of white out of his eyes for the second time that evening. The numb satisfaction was an improvement on splintering pain and he couldn't help the sleepy smile that crossed his lips when Jared pulled out of him and lowered his legs down to the floor again.

"You good?"

Jensen nodded, fucked out and exhausted but thoroughly pleased. There was a fondness in Jared's expression but Jensen didn't miss the familiar regret that always preceded his exit. 

"I'm good," he said, biting back the urge to ask Jared to stay with him, just for one night. "I can stand and everything."

"Guess I'm not doing a good enough job then," Jared teased, pulling his shirt back on. It was unnecessary -- he didn't seem to be affected by cold any more than he was affected by thirst or tiredness -- but, as Jared had explained the first time they met, sheep's clothing was good for travel as well as the hunt. "I'll make a note for next time."

"Next time?" Jensen swallowed, unsure how to phrase the invitation. "I, uh- You could always…"

The 'stay' remained unsaid as Jared dipped down to kiss him in apology. 

Jensen tried to ignore the pang of rejection when Jared pulled away but stayed still when Jared shook the dirt off his coat and wrapped it around his bare shoulders. It was thick and warm and Jensen couldn't help but burrow a little deeper when he looked up at Jared in surprise.

"Keep it warm for me," Jared said, crooking his finger under Jensen's chin to give him one final kiss goodbye. "I'll be back for it soon. I promise."


End file.
